Jeffrey Zaun

Born c. 1963

Cherry Hill, New Jersey

U.S. Navy officer captured by the Iraqis and forced to make a televised statement against the war

U.S. Navy Lieutenant Jeffrey Zaun was the navigator on an American warplane that was shot down over Iraq in the early days of the Persian Gulf War. After ejecting from the plane, he was captured by Iraqi soldiers. The Iraqis forced Zaun to appear on television and make a statement against the war. The video was broadcast around the world on CNN. Zaun's battered face created outrage at Iraq's mistreatment of coalition prisoners of war (POWs) and generated support for the war effort.

Sent to the Persian Gulf with the U.S. Navy

Jeffrey Norton Zaun was born around 1963 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He attended Cherry Hill High School West, where he was a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and competed on the gymnastics team. After completing high school he entered the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, graduating in 1984.

Zaun completed flight training in the navy but his poor eyesight prevented him from reaching his goal of becoming a pilot. Still hoping to fly, he trained as a weapons systems operator in the A6E Intruder fighter/bomber. The A6E is a two-man, low-altitude attack plane. Its advanced navigation and weapons systems allow it to operate at night and in all kinds of weather. It specializes in locating and attacking small targets with precision. Upon qualifying as a navigator and bombardier in the A6E, Zaun was assigned to Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

On August 2, 1990, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (see entry) had ordered his military forces to invade the neighboring country of Kuwait. Hussein argued that Iraq had a historical claim to Kuwait's territory. He also wanted to control Kuwait's oil reserves and to gain access to Kuwait's port on the Persian Gulf. Countries around the world condemned the invasion and demanded that Hussein immediately withdraw his troops from Kuwait. Many of these countries then began sending military forces to the Persian Gulf region as part of a U.S.-led coalition against Iraq. The United States sent more than four hundred thousand troops to the Persian Gulf over the next six months. Zaun's squadron, Attack Squadron 35, was shipped out on the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga during this time. They were stationed in the Red Sea (a large body of water that runs along the west coast of Saudi Arabia).

In November 1990 the United Nations (UN) Security Council established a deadline of January 15, 1991, for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait or face war. When Hussein failed to meet the deadline, the U.S.-led coalition launched a series of air strikes against military targets in Iraq. Zaun's squadron took part in the first wave of coalition air strikes. On January 18 Zaun flew in the backseat of an A6E piloted by Lieutenant Robert Wetzel. Their mission was to bomb the H3 Airfield in southwestern Iraq. But their plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire, and they were forced to eject over the desert. Zaun was captured by Iraqi forces and transported to Baghdad as a prisoner of war.

Forced to appear on Iraqi television

Like many other coalition POWs, Zaun was held in a dark, unsanitary cell in the basement of the Iraqi secret police headquarters. He was kept blindfolded and handcuffed for

British Royal Air Force Pilot John Peters

British Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot John Peters was another prisoner of war (POW) who was forced to appear on Iraqi television. Peters was the pilot of a Tornado GR1 fighter/bomber that was shot down on January 16, 1991, the first day of coalition air strikes against Iraq. Peters and his navigator, John Nicols, ejected from their aircraft and were captured by Iraqi troops.

After enduring four days of mental and physical torture, Peters was forced to appear on Iraqi television. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein apparently felt that displaying coalition POWs would demonstrate his power and raise the morale of his people. In his videotape, Peters made a short statement against the war. He tried to emphasize his injuries and make it clear that he was acting against his will. "I knew I looked bad, so I deliberately put my head down and I deliberately made sure that my bad eye was towards the film," he recalled in an interview for "Frontline." Peters's video was broadcast all over the world on CNN. His bruised and battered face became a symbol of Saddam Hussein's cruelty and ruthlessness.

Peters was released on March 3, 1991. He returned to his wife, Helen, and their two sons in England. He teamed up with Nicols to write a book about their experience, Tornado Down, which became a best-seller. He also took part in a documentary film by the same name, which won the Independent Documentary of the Year Award for 1992.

After the war ended, Peters became a flight instructor for the RAF. In this position he instituted a cultural change program that won the 1999 Flight International Aerospace Industry Award for Training and Safety. Peters then left the RAF to attend graduate school, earning a master's degree in business administration from Leicester University.

Peters formed his own corporate development company, which specialized in helping large companies improve their teamwork, leadership, and communication skills. He became a successful motivational speaker and gave presentations around the world. His presentations provide a dramatic account of his experiences as a POW in order to inspire people to overcome their own obstacles. The audiences for his speeches have included the Queen of England, South African President Nelson Mandela, and a number of other international figures.

Sources: "Frontline Interview: John Peters." PBS. Available online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/war/4.html (accessed on March 30, 2004); "Leadership and Motivational Speakers: John Peters." London Speaker Bureau. Available online at http://www.londonspeakerbureau.co.uk/speakers/vie wSpeaker.aspx?speakerid=83 (accessed on April 9, 2004); "Peters, John G." POW Network. Available online at http://www.pownetwork.org/gulf/pd023.htm (accessed on March 30, 2004); Peters, John, with John Nicols. Tornado Down: The Horrifying True Story of Their Gulf War Ordeal. 1992.

much of his time there. He faced interrogations, severe beatings, death threats, and starvation.

On January 20 Zaun and six other coalition POWs were paraded through the streets of Baghdad. They were taken to an Iraqi television station, where they were forced to make videotaped statements against the war. In Zaun's case, an Iraqi guard pointed a gun at him and threatened to kill him if he did not do as he was told. Zaun turned his bruised and swollen face toward the camera and said, "Our leaders and our people have wrongly attacked the peaceful people of Iraq." He spoke very slowly and deliberately to make it clear that he was acting against his will.

Zaun felt guilty about making the televised statement. He admitted that the Iraqi torture broke his will, and he expressed regret that he was not as strong as some of the other coalition POWs. "I'll remember the rest of my life, a guy with a nickel-plated pistol to my head, made me make a video," he told the New York Daily News. "It's the worst thing I'd ever do, and I thought they'd kill me after I made the film. I don't have to tell you how mentally disturbed I was about, you know, having been on TV," he added on ABCNews.com.

The Iraqi video footage of the coalition POWs was broadcast around the world on CNN. Zaun's picture also appeared in countless newspapers and magazines. In fact, his battered image became known as "the face of the Persian Gulf War." Most people assumed that his cuts, bruises, and broken nose were the result of Iraqi beatings (though Zaun later admitted that some of them had been caused by ejecting from his aircraft). This created feelings of anger toward Hussein and helped increase support for the war effort. Iraq's brutal mistreatment of the POWs was a direct violation of the Geneva Conventions, a set of international rules guiding the humane treatment of military prisoners and civilians in times of warfare.

The coalition air strikes went on for nearly six weeks and caused major damage to Iraq's military capability. On February 24 the coalition launched a dramatic ground assault to force the Iraqi troops out of Kuwait. It met with little resistance from Hussein's army, which had been devastated by the air strikes. The Persian Gulf War ended on February 27, when coalition forces succeeded in liberating Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. Shortly before the end of the war, the Iraqi secret police headquarters was destroyed by coalition bombs. U.S. military leaders were not aware that Zaun and other coalition prisoners were being held inside. "That night turned out to be pretty good because the secret police lost custody of us," Zaun remembered on ABCNews.com.

Regains his freedom and returns home

Zaun was released on March 4, 1991, after forty-six days in captivity. The Iraqis turned him over to the International Red Cross in Baghdad, and from there he was flown to freedom. Until that time, no one knew what had happened to his pilot, Robert Wetzel. But Wetzel was released on the same day. Zaun lost thirty pounds during his time as a POW, but his facial injuries healed and he was otherwise found healthy.

Zaun returned home to a hero's welcome. His hometown held a parade in his honor, and he told his story over and over again in the media. Zaun insisted that his ordeal was not nearly as bad as the problems faced by some other people. "To my mind, what I went through was not as emotionally troubling as losing a kid or going through a divorce. It wasn't as emotionally troubling as the problems faced by thousands of soldiers who fought in the war and are eating out of straws because of Gulf War syndrome [a collection of mysterious and often serious ailments affecting more than one hundred thousand American veterans]," he stated in the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I went through a severe month and a half, but I'm safe at home. I think about the Iraqis who died during the war and how they are dying like weeds because of this guy [Saddam Hussein]."

Zaun received several awards for his wartime service, including the Prisoner of War Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He retired from the navy in 1998 and entered graduate school. He earned a master's degree in business administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2000. Zaun worked as an investment banker in New York City for a while. When he was laid off, he returned home to Cherry Hill to conduct his job search. "I'm famous for being shot down and, hey, I got shot down again, but I will survive that, too," he told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In 2002 Zaun joined a group of sixteen other Gulf War POWs and their families in filing a lawsuit against Saddam Hussein and the government of Iraq. They asked for $910 million in compensation for the unlawful mistreatment they suffered during the war. The group hoped to claim their settlement from the $1.7 billion in Iraqi assets that remained frozen in American banks. "I never got to my target in the Gulf War," Zaun said in the AII POW-MIA InterNetwork. "I'd really like to get a piece of him [Saddam Hussein]."

As it appeared likely that the U.S. military would launch another war against Iraq in 2003, Zaun expressed support for the idea of removing Hussein from power and bringing democracy to Iraq. After all, he had experienced the brutality of Hussein's government firsthand. "There's a sinking feeling that it's the least bad alternative to have to fight over there again," he noted in the New York Daily News. "It's an ugly place; the people are suffering there."

Where to Learn More

Colimore, Edward. "Gulf War Hero Is Broke, and Back at Home." Philadelphia Inquirer, January 26, 2003. Available online at http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/5033103.htm (accessed on March 30, 2004).

"Ex-POWs Demanding Millions from Iraq." AII POW-MIA InterNetwork. Available online at http://www.aiipowmia.com/inter23/in032403suit.html (accessed on March 30, 2004).

O'Shaughnessy, Patrice. "Payback from POWs Savaged by Saddam." New York Daily News, February 16, 2003. Available online at http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/60173p-56204c.html (accessed on March 30, 2004).

"Saddam's Wrath: Gulf War POWs Tell of Horrors Troops Could Face." ABCNews.com, March 14, 2003. Available online at http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/world/2020_gulfpows030314.html (accessed on March 30, 2004).

"Zaun, Jeffrey Norton." POW Network. Available online at http://www.pownetwork.org/gulf/zd020.htm (accessed on March 30, 2004).